Bank Holiday hilly long run

I have decided that I should be doing a bit more focused training, especially now I have dog care to worry about. As part of this, I am going to try get a few more of my long runs done in the hills, especially as I have a couple of Lakeland Trails events coming up. 

With this in mind I headed up to Rivington and parked at the school end. Thankfully the toilets are back open. 

I haven't felt that confident about running recently, so I was a bit anxious about getting around a longer run. I mean, I had only planned 10 miles but I am seriously out of shape. 

I started off up the track next to thte school then took the zig zag route up to the top road and out to Two Lads. It was warm and I felt I was working a lot harder than I ought to have been but I struggled up, pausing only briefly to take in the view at the top of the zig zag. 

Given it was a Bank Holiday, it was a little busier than it can be. I passed a few people on the zig zags, a handful of people at the new cafe at the edge of the moor, and there were some other people (and their dogs) to share the cairn with. The views were pretty good and a cool wind meant I was actually glad I had long sleeves on. 

Moving on, I jumped a few bogs on the way down to the road. I took the road as I always seem to loose the path from Two Lads to the masts (which actually comes out half way up the road anyway). The road section is a bit of a slog as you loose perspective about the vastness of the masts and it seems they should be closer than they are. 

Even at the masts, there were people! Not loads but a few. I headed out on to the edge at the masts and skipped the small puddles and bogs on the way to the descent to Horden Stoops. By now it was clouding over but I could still see across Lancashire.

At Horden Stoops, instead of heading back over the Old Belmont road, I trotted down to  Sheephouse lane which I then followed down to a footpath out over toward Anglezarke Moor. There were fewer people here, but definitely some. Two male runners came past me, looking like they were doing a much more serious day out. At Higher Hempshaw, I tried to follow a footpath that wasn't really there, trailling out amongs the old walls, searching for the path. I gave up after a few hundred meters and sensibly returned to the well surfaced tracked which sweeps across the moor and round to Lead Miners Clough, just below the RAF memorial. I probably should have done the short clim up to it but instead I had a little snack on my new trail bar from Outdoor Provisions. 

The bar was a nice flavour, and felt a lot more satisfying than a gel. I don't usually have food on a run less than 13 miles but I fancied trying it. The texture is a bit dry, so might be hard to swallow at race pace,but would certainly be nice for walking and longer, slower runs in the hills. I kept half for the finish. 

I followed Lead Miner's Clough to the road, and then followed the path around the Yarrow reservoir and down towards Rivington village. By now, there were quite a lot of people: most were walkers but there was the odd runner and a huge pack of young boys on mountain bikes who swarmed the path. It is nice that people are getting out to their local areas of beauty. 

Through Rivington village, I followed the path along the reservoir past the GoApe and on to the mock castle ruin. By now there were quite a lot of people, and I was tired. I hopped puddles, dodged dogs ans small children and avoided the glares of older people. The last drag up to the car was a bit of a shuffle but I had done my 10 miles and was quite pleased with myself. 

I haven't felt much of a runner the last weeks, but getting out like this on my own helped remind me I can do things other people would never think to do. I may not be fast, but I still do: I run (most of) the hills, I navigate, I name the distant hills in my head. 

As I got in to the car, the lady in the car next to me was applying a full face of make up. Now that is a skill I will never have! 

If you want the gpx. for this route, please don't hesitate to ask, or take a look at my strava.